2:16 Union worms get mandatory breaks. Geeze everybody knows that.

@eurosauce9880

4 жыл бұрын

Oh no silly, I don't hire Union

@otheraccount5252

4 жыл бұрын

@Jacob Zondag insert homestead massacre ptsd here

@iwanabana

3 жыл бұрын

They might have been pushed to work with that deunionized water.

The human race: One million super worms can get rid of our plastic supply!? We can save the planet! A lizard boi: One million super worms you say 👀

@jacobe7094

5 жыл бұрын

Sam Hayes *Zuckerberg starts sweating uncontrollably

@ssalamander1294

5 жыл бұрын

the government starts shaking uncontrollably

@Margar02

5 жыл бұрын

And what happens when the worms become beetles? We'll have to destroy them else we'll have a beetle plague!

@riddell26

5 жыл бұрын

The Reptilians master plan has been solved

@finkyfamboni4333

5 жыл бұрын

MAARRRRKKK!!!!

Most 1:25am video ever

@Name-cy8ym

5 жыл бұрын

kzread.info/dash/bejne/qGGk0cp7mZfZnKw.html No, this is.

@Wumbobio

5 жыл бұрын

Ruben Lipoan holy shit right when I looked at this comment it was 1:25 am

@zipit1984

4 жыл бұрын

I was just thinking I should have gone to bed 2 hours ago. Why am I still up watching this.

@thatgirlray2765

4 жыл бұрын

2:09 am for me

@josephoso

4 жыл бұрын

Ruben Lipoan lmao I started watching at 1:30 am😂

i'd be interested to see what if any effect this has on the worms long term, and what unusual biproducts may be being produced that arent immediately obvious

@jeezosdude867

2 жыл бұрын

Es poo poo

@UmCaraNormalnumPlanetanormal

Жыл бұрын

@@jeezosdude867 lol

@lynnbishop9493

Жыл бұрын

Yes, like do they continue growing pupating, and breeding.

@john.d.rockefeller2538

Жыл бұрын

@@lynnbishop9493 Yup, I keep the adults as pets.

imagine working at that landfill, i would have nightmares of falling into a pit of worms every day...

@LegDayLas

5 жыл бұрын

Why, they are literally harmless. edit- in fact, if anything its the worms that should be scared of you falling in, because you would kill thousands of them.

@MiniDemonic

5 жыл бұрын

@James Henry So, exactly the same bio hazard as falling into months of garbage in a normal landfill? In fact, considering the worms would degrade the garbage quicker than just letting it sit out it would probably be safer to fall into a worm pit than to fall into a normal garbage pit.

@Dollapfin

5 жыл бұрын

Cryptic Cobra they can bite you and often injure lizards’s eyes and face

@nexusclarum8000

5 жыл бұрын

@@LegDayLas A jar of them is harmless. I don't know about falling into a pit of them and drowning in them. Either way it'd be pretty freaking horrific imo.

@LegDayLas

5 жыл бұрын

@@Dollapfin oh shit your right, I forgot that i'm a lizard.

So if we could somehow culture that bacteria en masse, maybe we could skip the super worm step? 🤔 This is exciting stuff! 😁

@PongoXBongo

5 жыл бұрын

Like giant bio-reactor tanks?

@trex70

5 жыл бұрын

The question is. They know it but dont use it. Why....?

@crackedemerald4930

5 жыл бұрын

@@trex70you try to pitch that idea to investors

@theprogrammer32

5 жыл бұрын

@@crackedemerald4930 just wait 10 years when millenials actually have money to invest

@Nozomu564

5 жыл бұрын

It's pretty pointless. Styrofoam isn't hard to process, just not worth it.

I would be curious to see the chemical composition of what is leftover after the worm is completely done with the Styrofoam. Also what happens to the worms generational y after only consuming Styrofoam. You mention that a bacteria in the digestion of the worm is or may be responsible for the breakdown what happens to the effectiveness over time of this bacteria after only consuming Styrofoam? Over all a VERY interesting subject ! Well done Sir.

@kristitynvaellus2782

5 жыл бұрын

Also, would it be better to use only that bacteria without worms?

@heimerblaster976

5 жыл бұрын

@@kristitynvaellus2782 They may not be able to live out side the host it is common for gut bacteria.

@romerogiovanni7

5 жыл бұрын

@@heimerblaster976 that bacteria has been cultivated in labs so it is possible. Just like E. Coli lives in the gut but you can still get it on your food.

@fljetgator1833

5 жыл бұрын

The 'defecate' is a fertile soil from what I heard him say in the narrative. 🤔

@heimerblaster976

5 жыл бұрын

@@fljetgator1833 Ya but in curious if in the chemical composition of the worms defecate their are any undesirables after all over several tons of Styrofoam spread around the planet and used in the food chain/environment it would be significant to know specifically what is left over. Once broken down and spread all over the earth it could make it worse than the original problem.

So, very late, I just started breeding mealworms, and came across this information (then found this video). Besides how fascinating it is, there's two things I want to point out: One, it is unknown if they retain anything harmful from the Styrofoam, minus HBCD (a highly toxic flame retardent used to treat at least some stryofoams) which is passed into their waste, the frass (making the frass toxic), so eating them or feeding them to... anything is probably not ideal. And as I said, the toxic HBCD is passed into their frass, making their waste a toxic (but concentrated!) byproduct. The main concern is gone, and a toxic chemical is concentrated in their waste. The main question I have now is; how can/is that toxic chemical dealt with? My second question is, why has this not become, or at least been investigated as, a major potential practice?

@pinksyndrome90

Жыл бұрын

Hi Steven, I know this comment is a year old but hopefully you're still active on this account. To answer your first question, right now there's no efficient way to remove the chemical (HBCD) from the egested frass of the superworms/mealworms. BUT that's exactly what I want to investigate and find out. I've read online that HBCD can be potentially degraded using a combination of phytoremediation and bioremediation (the use of plants are microbes to detoxify HBCD in the environment). I plan on setting up a mini experiment at my home over this summer to investigate which methods would work the best in eliminating this chemical, but I'm still deep into my research phase. To answer your second question, with the current technology we have now, it's almost impossible to apply this type of discovery to major recycling plants, simply because these worms are TOO SLOW! To give hope though, a bunch of scientists are deriving the enzymes found in the mealworms and superworms, and ENGINEERING the enzyme's molecular structure to make them FASTER at biodegrading polystyrene. Hopefully this helps! Respond back if you want more information.

@charlierose7153

Жыл бұрын

@@pinksyndrome90 Different to the original poster but really enjoyed the comment, would be grateful to have a linkcto anything concerning engineered enzymes to speed up the process

@user-mc6dg6qe8l

Жыл бұрын

Completely false

This needs some serious scientific investigation in terms of Microplastics, food chains and what other plastics they can digest

@zygimantasrauba3193

5 жыл бұрын

well no shit if youre going to use this method world wide. even if this is the solution alot of investigations will be needed

@saltmage2435

5 жыл бұрын

They arent breaking it down. theyre just pooping it back out in little balls... weigh the poop that is undigested and youll realize no energy came from the foam for the worms. stop trying to be smart when youre just an idiot watching a youtube video. "This needs some serious scientific investigation in terms" stfu kid

@TheEnabledDisabled

5 жыл бұрын

@@saltmage2435 Well it at least breakign it down to smaller pieces it a step forward, do you have a better idea?

@archardor3392

5 жыл бұрын

@@saltmage2435 In summary, the weight loss and molecular weight decrease of the PS samples supported the conclusion that strain YT2, which was isolated from the mealworm gut, was capable of degrading PS. That is from the research paper.

@miickydeath12

5 жыл бұрын

@@saltmage2435 omg omggg he said stfu kid omgg hes so cool !!!1!1!!1

it's important to test the life cycle and reproductive cycle and offspring of generations of these bugs after consuming the styrofoam, also what impact and contents of the frass is....

@thethoughtemporium

8 жыл бұрын

+nuclearthreat545 All that coming in a future video. First I need to make more so it's easier to test. Also going to try culturing the bacteria to see if I can get them to break down styrofoam without the help of the worms.

@dantyler1558

8 жыл бұрын

+nuclearthreat545 I suspect you have been infected to a great degree by social sympathies. It is NOT important, at any degree, to test the life cycle and offspring of worms that consume Styrofoam. Maybe marginally interesting but in no way is this kind of study of any substantial value.

@skullmanl337

7 жыл бұрын

Wouldn't you want to know if the beetles can properly reproduce, thus you can continue to use the same lineages rather than have to have a breeding stock? I would think it would reduce costs if you were to monetize the process.

@gnarlyandy1

7 жыл бұрын

+Dan Tyler wouldn't it make sense if used in the way suggested in the video used a million at a time it would be good if they could reproduce and not die right away. That way they could be reused... The same batch of bugs to eat more garbage.

@andthesunsets

7 жыл бұрын

How is this going?

Today: superworms eat Styrofoam.. Decade from now: Mothra

@zoomitasit6014

3 жыл бұрын

i got you to 100 from 99 likes

@jarredjones8476

3 жыл бұрын

@@zoomitasit6014 pre she ate you...:)

@zoomitasit6014

3 жыл бұрын

@@jarredjones8476 im sadly not edible but thanks.

@jarredjones8476

3 жыл бұрын

@@zoomitasit6014 everything is edible with the right wine pairing.. so hannibal lecter says.. lol

@zoomitasit6014

3 жыл бұрын

@@jarredjones8476 not if i eat them first

2:16 dammit they’re already unionizing

One question; what happens when some of the worms (larvae) get out into the wild. This is inevitable if used on an industrial scale. Are the adult beetles an invasive species risk?

@Dollapfin

5 жыл бұрын

John Palmer they’re not winter hardy at all. They’re tropical, so most of the US will not support them. At least I know that mine were let out in the beetle stage and they never made it.

@EzraM5

5 жыл бұрын

From the little I gathered on Wikipedia, the beetles are mostly interested in vegetation scavenging. They mostly eat forest litter or decaying plant matter.

@anthonythorp7291

5 жыл бұрын

@@Dollapfin Isn't that what they told us about killer bees? Mankind (and women) will never learn. Just keeps on messing with nature.

@tatzecom

5 жыл бұрын

also, couldnt you like, breed them to not to do that?

@tarod3

5 жыл бұрын

Anthony Thorp it’s 80 years too late to worry about these specific worms spreading, they are used around the world to feed lizards and as crunchy snacks like chips. You know how potatoes are invasive in Europe but also the reason people have food? Screw nature, it’s not delicate.

Does this raise issues with micro plastics? It’s the only draw back I can come up with. Really impressed with the out of the box thinking though!

@direfulkn1f337

4 жыл бұрын

It isn't plastic anymore if the chemical composition is messed with by the digestion of the little worms. So basically no issues! :D

@carterdecuir3760

4 жыл бұрын

You are right. Although the foam material is broken down, the arising problem of microplastics being found in ocean , lake and even bottled water. After the pellets have been broken down, what now? There is still a plastic material that needs disposing of and a large portion of it would most likely end up in the ocean or in another ecosystem that it doesn’t belong in. So a good concept but would create problems that are probably just as harmful

@BitrateBilly

4 жыл бұрын

i dont think so, it seems eventually the plastic gets processed so much it just turns into poop

@po-qo7vd

4 жыл бұрын

@@carterdecuir3760 it would probaably just be left in the original landfill to eithet be eaten or degrade at an accelalerated rate thanks to the breakdown process its already gone through

Great stuff! I really appreciate the mention of the taxonomical and anatomical differences between mealworms and superworms.

@benjamindragon598

5 жыл бұрын

I would've been triggered

1:13 "... so when the paper came eut" Me: Oh he's a Canadian

@leomadero562

4 жыл бұрын

Or someone who speaks english

@DosDonts101

4 жыл бұрын

@@leomadero562 you obviously don't get it

@Username-1939t9

4 жыл бұрын

@@abdillin eut

@Oatskii

3 жыл бұрын

Ovadya In the US (give or take Wisconsin) we say “Owt”

They're passing it, sure, but did you weigh the powder that was accumulating on the sides of the jar as well as the solid brick?

@ernesto8290

6 жыл бұрын

Miles Florence true! Will the poop decompose after one passing. And if so I was thinking of adding some sort of filter or mesh to allow the poop to drop down so they could focus on the Styrofoam itself and not just going thru their poop.

@sebbes333

6 жыл бұрын

Since nothing was leaving the jar & only water, worms and air was entering the jar the result would be: initial plastic + worms + added water + some atoms from the atmosphere.

@grabthebagnow

6 жыл бұрын

conservation of mass

@megastoejoe

6 жыл бұрын

A bit of gas will come off from worm farts. Plastic breaks down best in an anaerobic environment because the bacteria that can do so are anaerobic. If the worms digestive system is anaerobic, i suppose it's possible that they are not just simply passing it.

@HLCassidy

6 жыл бұрын

You would need to know how long they can survive without food to make that claim.

I'm wondering if the worms are just going thru the motion,but are slowly starving to death.What nutrients are they extracting from the Styrofoam.

@thermophile2106

6 жыл бұрын

3verygoodreasons If you read the original paper, they are actually eating it. The mass of the styrofoam decreased by about half, the carbon and hydrogen (turning into CO2 and H2O). The worms also grew in size and mass comparably to worms fed with bran. (Standard food)

@kjamison5951

6 жыл бұрын

Thermophile They grew in size and mass? So we run the risk of creating giant mutant worms that devour styrene… someone should make a movie!

@D8W2P4

6 жыл бұрын

+MatchstalkMan com·pa·ra·bly adverb in a similar way or to a similar degree. "a comparably priced CD player"

@TheGreatMidnight

6 жыл бұрын

ALASKAN BULL WORM!!!!!

@tobinator680

5 жыл бұрын

D8W2P4 joke noun 1. something said or done to provoke laughter or cause amusement, as a witticism, a short and amusing anecdote, or a prankish act: "He tells very funny jokes. She played a joke on him." 2. something that is amusing or ridiculous, especially because of being ludicrously inadequate or a sham; a thing, situation, or person laughed at rather than taken seriously; farce: "Their pretense of generosity is a joke. An officer with no ability to command is a joke." 3. a matter that need not be taken very seriously; trifling matter: "The loss was no joke."

Hey I’m really late to the party but this is great for creating a small, no-waste system. The dead worms can be utilized as feed for certain types livestock which would replace grain, and the fresh soil can be used for growing produce

@johnmudd6453

Жыл бұрын

And eventually we will be eating plastic steaks and vegetables !😁

Awesome video, starting to love your channel. Wish it was longer..

Dear lord, how come I didn't find this channel before. It is probably my favorite channel on KZread. It promotes science projects that are accessible, but incredibly useful and even scalable. So cool.

*Helpful worms !* Good for them that they can survive on styrofoam. I think we should replace the packaging with the recycled paper one regardless, because it's better for our health too !

@dr.krieger1104

6 жыл бұрын

Styrofoam is not toxic as far as I know. The advantage is that it is not a good heat conductor, making it use full for the transport of warm or cold goods.

@moosemeesen3174

6 жыл бұрын

the only problem with that is paper leaves a much larger carbon footprint than styrofoam

@rich1051414

6 жыл бұрын

Recycled paper is a larger footprint than styrofoam?

@moosemeesen3174

6 жыл бұрын

Yes. Also if the worms actually break down the styrofoam AND people recycle styrofoam cups, styrofoam is probably the best choice for cups and disposable containers

@caravannefrank2590

6 жыл бұрын

They can eat it but i would like to see what an adult beetle who only ate foam as a worm would look like. Humans can eat foam too. If that lady on My Strange Addiction can eat couch cushion.. I'm sure some styrofoam couldn't hurt in the short term. Just think if we could selectively breed styrofoam loving superworms

great video, I love it!!! we need more worms and someone to implement some large scale tests

Love to see you revisit this.

So did it eventually turn to soil? To really make a proof of concept you should have the worms turn the Styrofoam to soil and then plant a tomato in it or something.

@mathquik1872

5 жыл бұрын

agree. this is bullshit

@mathquik1872

5 жыл бұрын

i once saw some Fly in my toilet in a time when it was super dirty. the fly ate my urinal residue aka. urinal stone ....

@wyattsmith8808

5 жыл бұрын

Doesn't have to be soil nessasearly. Things like coco, promix and other non soil product cant grow plants better then soil if given nutrients.

@Broockle

5 жыл бұрын

@@mathquik1872 uhm, thx for sharing.... xD Wyatt Smith w8, I dun get it. U mean because many plants can germinate without any nutrients in the soil...? I think growing a full tomato out of it would be pretty impressive. Or maybe it needs a few more nutrients than the styrofoam can provide, I dun really know how that works .

@dickhead8775

5 жыл бұрын

@@mathquik1872 That's nice, more details, please.

If we had the bacteria in our gut we could eat the styrofoam. Pass the packing nuts please.

@addinsell

6 жыл бұрын

Many packing peanuts are already digestible by humans. They are often made of starch in a process similar to making Cheetos (without the flavour). I still wouldn't recommend eating them though as they will not be manufactured or stored in a food-safe way.

@peterj6802

5 жыл бұрын

@@addinsell The more you know.

@dangusprime

5 жыл бұрын

Im sure its been on the show where people willingly, and are addicted to, eating wierd things like mattress lmao.

@michaelochman1953

3 жыл бұрын

Are they food for Klingons?

Have 1 styrofoam coffee cup in my mealworm bin for two months now, and they're only half-way through it. Mealworms can't live on styrofoam alone, they vitamin and mineral.

THAT'S AWESOME! THIS NEEDS TO GO VIRAL!

Why not culture the bacteria in the worms? You could find what enzyme they use and place the gene for that enzyme into more convenient organisms. It would be great if there were electricity producing bacteria or yeast that could digest it. You could even modify rats to do the work and then maybe people. Fast growing and fruiting fungi may work even better then the worms. Does any one know if its just on strain of bacteria or maybe several working together? Some polystyrene agar might culture the bacteria in the right conditions if it is indeed the bacteria. What about how the diet would effect the meal worms long term? You can feed a mouse ice cream for two week with no effect but a year and the mouse may die. With epigenetics then worms might change very quickly to eat more because of the lack if variety in the diet like a panda eating tons of bamboo. There is no calcium the it or magnesium. Neither iron, sodium, and potassium. If any problems present then maybe minerals and vitamins should be added as a powder for to the Styrofoam.

@thethoughtemporium

8 жыл бұрын

+JMAPScience That'll be in a follow up video. Was so fascinated with this I'll be doing a couple follow ups and expand on the idea

@HighWarlordJC

6 жыл бұрын

"You could modify rats to do the work and then maybe people." Expand the greatness of humankind by creating a race of trash eaters. I like your moxie.

@cheesevampire110123

6 жыл бұрын

"mum whats for dinner?? ahhhh not styrofoam again!"

@Danatar555

6 жыл бұрын

Do you want huge mutant worms? BECAUSE THAT'S HOW YOU GET HUGE MUTANT WORMS.

@Mikeanglo

6 жыл бұрын

Sounds expensive, and difficult- if not impossible to do on the scale you'd need for industrial use. Culturing the bacteria would require a lab and specialized equipment not currently available at most landfills...whereas the worms can be cared for and bought from a simple pet supply store.

I have been feeding the mealworms styrofoam waste to red wiggler earthworms. interesting that the earthworms love this stuff and go quite nuts over it.

@thethoughtemporium

7 жыл бұрын

Ya all my experiments point to this being great feedstock for all sorts of things. I like the idea of using worms for the secondary treatment

@G8tr1522

6 жыл бұрын

willis dyk no shit! I've been wanting to try something new in the compost.

Congratulations on 1million views. It's a honor.

Can't do that, it would be good for the planet.

@rinfeast3445

5 жыл бұрын

ah humans

@crazydiamondrequiem4236

5 жыл бұрын

Edgy

@jussaniggawitarocketlaunch8878

5 жыл бұрын

@Jake L nigga rape culture isn't real

@lefthanded5473

4 жыл бұрын

@@crazydiamondrequiem4236 I think he's trying to expose the fact that humans won't want to do this because there's no profit to be made in "saving the planet" companies would rather mine more petroleum and make MORE plastic instead of reducing and reusing the huge quantities of it that we already have.

@bradleyweiss1089

4 жыл бұрын

Jacob L IF it’s even true it’s globalists not Americans. No ones governments listen to their people anymore.

Sure they eat it, but can they in anyway survive on it? If they eat it and just poops it out, we now have tiny plastic particles that will just blow away. If they can metabolize it, will it be sufficient to maintain a population or will they die off if they dont get supplements. And what are the rest products. Are they any less harmful than the original styrofoam?

@iCannonFodder

6 жыл бұрын

This is what I was wondering too.

@mokutomedia1253

6 жыл бұрын

Well the blow away issue can be somewhat solved if you do this indoors so thats one point down.

@ragnarapplewood3915

6 жыл бұрын

And the end of the video he said the poop can be used as soil so obviously the plastic was digested and broken down completely.

@bayraktarx1386

6 жыл бұрын

Fuskobot yeah it seems inefficient enough to change anything but I may be wrong.

@FenrirRagnulf

6 жыл бұрын

This has nothing to do with if they can survive on it.

This is amazing! Where has this video been for 3 years?!?! Great thinking@!

@evaakoons7168

5 жыл бұрын

Gives me hope!

@bradleyweiss1089

4 жыл бұрын

They kept it hidden til Trump was elected because there’s more money in fear mongering end of the world pandering. Like Solyndra- gonna save the world. Nope. Big rip-off!

Nice use of the metric system. Well done! It's so nice to just be able to move that decimal separator.

@ImportNinja

5 жыл бұрын

American marvels at the genius of metric system. 😂

@joeblack4436

5 жыл бұрын

@@ImportNinja Nah. Not American. Was just happy for him.

@bradleyweiss1089

4 жыл бұрын

I don’t like the metric system.

Great! Thanks for popularizing the paper!

Cool stuff. I'm wondering if he measured just the major chunk of styrofoam, or if he also weighed all the pellets. Styrofoam can be GREATLY condensed. It's possible that a large percentage of the weight was constricted by the heat/pressure of the mandibles and intestines into the concentrated pellets.

@i.suk.6146

5 жыл бұрын

What? Something big condensed into something small still weighs the sams. Do you even science? Actually you dont even need to science you just need common sense lol

Styrofoam, hmm.. I think they sell that at my local grocery store in a bag and call them "rice cakes", what's the difference? *chomp* :p

@surfyplayer8231

5 жыл бұрын

Ricey Ricey rice no one likes rice cakes

@ImDaRealBoi

5 жыл бұрын

Surfy Player that's where you're wrong kiddo

@surfyplayer8231

5 жыл бұрын

For you... kzread.info/dash/bejne/Yp1119lulNu3dso.html

@deividasnastajus8906

5 жыл бұрын

I like rice cakes too

@magiccat3772

5 жыл бұрын

@@surfyplayer8231 lol

Great work. Have you read any other studies that reach a similar conclusion or is this your original finding?

this channel is a gold mine

I'm a gecko breeder and I would not use these bugs to feed my geckos but I will do a volley of tests with meal worms and the like

@thethoughtemporium

8 жыл бұрын

+nuclearthreat545 I have a separate batch for the lizard. these were separated out for this one specific purpose.

I am currently working on a presentation on those larvae being able to digest polystyrene for my highschool biology class. My idea to test out whether mealworm larvae are able to actually digest the plastic is to weigh thecontainer with the styrofoam and the meal worms before starting the experiment with a very fine scale and then weighing the experiment after a day to see if the weight is reduced. Ruling out the evaporated water, or any escaped larvae ;-D i will then be able to conclude that the missing mass is in system has to the exhaled carbondioxide. Because it could be possible, that the larvae are just breaking down the polymere into tiny bits and are not actually digesting it. If you want, i can send you the results in a few wewks.

@jaiarora27cool

6 жыл бұрын

Paul Anton Hey Do please send the results

@SmartassEyebrows

5 жыл бұрын

If they weren't actually digesting something from it, they would starve and die.

@joeruth123

5 жыл бұрын

Paul Anton, what were the results?

@AnthonySmith

5 жыл бұрын

Update?

@shiviste7611

5 жыл бұрын

SmartassEyebrows malnourished and starving are completely different

Fascinating! Thanks for sharing.

Not what I was expecting ! But found it educational ! Thanks for sharing !👍👍

set up a recycling plant with this worms. grind the waste n the worms into powder and sell it as fertilizer

@MCAroon09

5 жыл бұрын

hmmm smart, but what about PETA?

@paulboh1417

5 жыл бұрын

@@MCAroon09 set up a vegetable right groups to opposed them. We will gather up all the plant n Gardners to protest at their protest

@MCAroon09

5 жыл бұрын

@@paulboh1417 intresting, maybe we can also have Greenpeace on our side? Plastic is serious pollutant

@raypimienta7670

5 жыл бұрын

@@MCAroon09 absolutely right, we grind them up too

@crackedemerald4930

5 жыл бұрын

You could also sell them as a food too

Honestly that is extremely interesting

Great video! And thanks for the source paper on recycling with worms! I was wondering if styrofoam could be biorecycled. The accessibility of worm recycling is fine, but it becomes a terror once the worms molt and turn into their beetle form. The recycling plant would need to be contained in a large space basically emulating a greenhouse, which may not be practical or feasible in the long term. However, it is still fascinating. Edit: cannot access the source paper. I will have to look around for a similar report. :(

This is just awesome. Thanks for posting this video

Nice, let's make more microplastic Just kidding, this seems promising

@LucasRodmo

5 жыл бұрын

But I can't stop thinking about microplastic every now and then

@bones7868

4 жыл бұрын

they dont just smash it they chemically decompose the plastic

i used to feed these things to my bearded dragons, and i remember in ~2004 taking videos of the worms eating straight through the top of their containers. i had to stick them in the fridge to "chill them out" to stop eating every damn thing i put them in. i had no idea they were actually ingesting, it though. thought they were just chewing it open. very interesting. even if it murders the worms.. i mean... who cares? better them than us. just breed supers, toss them on trash, rinse/repeat.

@armouredoutlaw1537

6 жыл бұрын

Sean Barmettler you wouldn't say who cares it's them or us if it was bearded dragons that could eat this stuff.... although I do agree that it's a good idea your comment came across very pompous

@Nova3261

6 жыл бұрын

agreed outlaw not only that i've have beardies for the last 19years and never once have the superworms/mealworms/locusts/crickets/dubia roaches chewed through any of their packaging from petstores

@TheCliffstudios

6 жыл бұрын

sure but worms and lizards are not at equal levels of intelligence, I doubt they have a cerebral cortex, so where's the issue?

@armouredoutlaw1537

6 жыл бұрын

Mr Clifford's underdeveloped Games did you read my entire comment or just the first sentence?

@zachburke8906

6 жыл бұрын

Armoured Outlaw nah you used the word pompous and he got confused. Wait maybe that’s me.

That was fascinating. I've never been so engrossed.

It would be interesting to test what is given off by the process. I recently learned that Styrofoam is a bunch of benzene rings stuck to a hydrocarbon chain. So, are the worms consuming the chain and releasing benzene, the other way around, or making something else that may be better or worse? It would make a good experiment, but I wouldn't know where to start with determining the outputs.

This is the perfect example of a Canadian accent. 😂 awesome video, even if I’m 3 years late.

"I gotta see these worms. Hold my Styrofoam cup ..." comes back an hour later "where did my cup go?"

i have seen termites eat through it as well on a vinyl cladded house.

I LOVE THIS! How does eating styrofoam effect the next stage of the worm = the beetle stage?

In So America IIRC they recycle styrofoam as a component for road surfacing and roofing...

the though emporium: a million of these super worms can destroy the Styrofoam in our landfills, effectively cleaning out a 1/3 of all the waste on the landfills! the government: imma gonna pretend i never saw that

Those worms had a agonizing stomachache after that

Did you weight the worms before and after? Did they gain size and did they extract something from the foam?

1:13 "The beatle stages look totally different". Shows 2 beatles that look pretty damn similar

@bradleyweiss1089

4 жыл бұрын

Steezboy3000 I thought the same thing

Great, now what the heck are we doing to do with all those darkling beetles?

@madethisforrestrictedvideo9907

5 жыл бұрын

They're tropical, so if they get out, most of the world will not be able to support them

@KikinCh1kin

5 жыл бұрын

*C R O M C H*

@preppertechnicianee6013

4 жыл бұрын

Make more worms

@bradleyweiss1089

4 жыл бұрын

Bring them cane toads over here. What could possibly go wrong.

@bradleyweiss1089

4 жыл бұрын

Just kidding. I personally don’t see a problem.

Fascinating, and fantastic!

Hmmm.. honestly the whole plastic thing is crazy love to see ppl trying to figure it out xo

BRUH, THIS IS HOW TREMORS THE MOVIE STARTED OUT. I SAY HELL NO.

@jamestheotherone742

5 жыл бұрын

Actually Tremors The Movie started with two guys sleeping together in the back of a pickup truck. ;)

@wacka2

5 жыл бұрын

DUNE man .....! DUNE !

@mambodog5322

5 жыл бұрын

Citizen Zibb Either you are being sarcastic (in that case, whooosh and all that) But if not, fiction /ˈfɪkʃ(ə)n/ noun noun: fiction; plural noun: fictions 1. literature in the form of prose, especially novels, that describes imaginary events and people. synonyms: novels, stories, creative writing, imaginative writing, works of the imagination, prose literature, narration, story telling; More romance, fable "the traditions of British fiction" antonyms: non-fiction 2. something that is invented or untrue. "they were supposed to be keeping up the fiction that they were happily married" synonyms: fabrication, invention, lies, fibs, concoction, untruth, falsehood, fantasy, fancy, illusion, sham, nonsense; More vulgar slangbullshit; vulgar slangbulldust "the president dismissed the allegation as absolute fiction" antonyms: fact, truth a belief or statement which is false, but is often held to be true because it is expedient to do so. "the notion of the country being a democracy is a polite fiction"

@henritzspook

5 жыл бұрын

@@mambodog5322 ok Mr. sans undertale

@mambodog5322

5 жыл бұрын

@@henritzspook Yeah I agree I should change my profile pic

So after we let them do that, a year later they’ll tell us, “Oh wait, we didn’t know that they liked wood TOO!”

@skatatataatje

3 жыл бұрын

Who still builds houses with wood?

This is really awesome.

i think it would probably be easier to make bacteria laden fluid baths that would basically just dissolve the Styrofoam and accumulate the dirt at the bottom

We used meal worms to break down styrofoam in my invert zoology class. I'd be very interested in studying the difference.

But does the foam have any nutritional value? Can they actually survive long-term on the stuff?

@zspud21

5 жыл бұрын

That's what I was wondering. It burns so we know it had energy. If the worms can extract that energy and useable matter for it's own use then it could work. Next question is what is the broken down product? Is it useful? Or just another plastic and possibly toxic waste?

So awesome and the experiment is so easy to replicate that anyone could see with they're own eyes the results if or when someone don't believe that mealworms can eat and digest styrofoam.

KZread gives me the most random suggestions...and I end up clicking them.

To further this research, please analyze the waste. What does the styrofoam become?

@quincyberman5629

7 жыл бұрын

Towards the end I believe he said it becomes usable dirt.

@themightypicklerex7688

7 жыл бұрын

the bacteria strains that break down plastics turn it into usable carbohydrates, so it's likely something similar.r

First, I know almost nothing about this type of biology, so take this question with a grain of salt, but what about isolating just the bacteria and feeding it the Styrofoam? I could see this being more efficient because the worm wouldn't have to re-eat the stuff multiple times and the Styrofoam could just sit until it was broken down, but I could also see this as being less efficient because the bacteria wouldn't be able to mechanically break down the Styrofoam as well as the worms unless we broke it up before feeding it to them. Idk, just me thinking out loud :/

@thethoughtemporium

5 жыл бұрын

It's not a dumb question. If I pick this project back up, that's precisely the plan. Once the new bio lab is set up we'll look into it.

@austin503

5 жыл бұрын

It wouldn't really be cost effective to build an artificial protective housing for the bacteria in question They're anaerobic, so oxygen disrupts the breakdown process (and could potentially kill the bacterial colony) And you would have to provide fairly sensitive thermal mediation

@i.suk.6146

5 жыл бұрын

Maybe just set up some sort of grinder to pass the styrofoam through into a vat of bacteria like this.

Wow great post Thanks for sharing

This is a great idea. I fully suport this, and hope it gets implemented.

I'm curious what the by products are?

Nice! Good to see how the super worm turns....styrofoam in to soil that is!

Another option is to hose down the styrofoam with acetone, which could be recovered and have a still usable plastic. A combination of worms and acetone could be ideal, along with another method.

I thought the bacteria were getting carbohydrates by digesting it as it's primarily carbon and hydrogen,but after reading the source paper it's believed to be a synergistic process of worm enzymes and different microbes (a consortia) akin to how termites breakdown cellulose and ruminants like cows digest grasses. Surprisingly, one of the metabolites is mineralized CO2. When polystyrene is subjected to UV irradiation in the presence of air, it undergoes a rapid yellowing while becoming brittle (photo degradation). Maybe a two step approach would prove more effective i.e. photo and bio degradation.

The best way to recycle polystyrene is just to melt it down (or dissolve in a solvent) then reform it into pellets and re-use it. If it's already mixed in with landfill there is no point in trying to turn the polystrene into beetle larvae biomass since there will be lots of other plastics and chemicals mixed in there too which would hinder beetle larvae production and release the methane into the environment during the process whereas in landfill it can just be buried dry and sterile (not producing methane). A more effective way of dealing with the mixed waste is to burn it or collect the methane gas direct from the waste etc (i.e. waste-to-energy) or just leave it buried in landfill for later use. At home or in the livefood industry the polystyrene might be useful for feeding to mealworms or superworms as a food that doesn't go bad when the culture is untended for extended periods and it might also reduce or illiminate the chances of getting a mite infestation in the culture. Rather than using oats as a substrate you could use polystyrene and then have separate quarantine boxes full of oats or the usual substrate to get the polystyrene out of their systems before using them as a live food. The main issue for industry would be the low nutrient content of the polystyrene and the fact most of it isn't turned into biomass would reduce efficiency of mealworm production. Polystyrene is also very expensive compared to grain but that might be offset by the reduction in labour costs (I don't know how labour intensive mealworm farms are) if extra space to increase production rate isn't an issue All of this is just a big guess I'm not an expert but hey it makes sense to me

@johnfrancisdoe1563

5 жыл бұрын

Carlos The Hamster Styrofoam industry research from the 1970s and 1980s that I had access to recommended the following methods in order of decreasing efficiency: 1. Mechanically chop clean styrofoam (like misshapen items) back into pellets, mix with fresh pellets and use instead of all new pellets. This is the most efficient if still at/near the factory. 2. Crush and melt into regular polystyrene like used for CD jewel cases and other products. This reduces the size for more energy efficient transport from collection point to recycling plant. 3. Burn for energy. Fan lots of air into the fire to get a very clean burn (H2O + CO2 output). Other uses of styrofoam that explain why it degrades so slowly in landfills: * Underground construction: Man size blocks of styrofoam can be used to spread the weight of a road over soft ground such a muddy bog. * Loose fully expanded styrofoam pellets can be mixed into soil that has become too compacted to grow plants due to running it over with heavy equipment too many times. The pellets create air pockets so plants can actually form roots. The pellets stay in the top soil for years while many generations of plants slowly loosen the ground. * Indoor and urban gardening sometimes use styrofoam boxes instead of sand and gravel to grow plants such as tomatoes. * Styrofoam is often used as the floatation blocks in life wests, unsinkable boats and floating bridges.

Humans: Make thousands of super worms eat plastic Mark zucc: 🐊 WORMS YOU SAY? 🐸

I used to run my styro thru a blender then augment my garden compost with it. guess there could be a problem with that, chemically speaking, but what it did was to lighten up/aerate my dirt

very cool! I think big fat super worms would make amazing fish food as well; which addresses the problem of most fish food made now being made out of wild caught fish

the government:get the guns for area 51 the thought emporium: lets talk about mealworms

I'm going to do this. Ideally I'll make it industry. I'm starting now.

@thethoughtemporium

8 жыл бұрын

Cool. The more people who do this the better. Help rebuild our dying planet

@bodhijbd

6 жыл бұрын

There are many communities in which Sytrofoam cannot be "recycled". Here, it's more akin to condensing it (melting) rather than actually recycling it.That would seem an endless supply of product to be procured from a deal with local businesses perhaps, to take back Styrofoam packing products in order to drive the study. I'm very late to this video, but it seems worth a shot.

@jeffbriggs1987

6 жыл бұрын

bullshit wesley. You look like one of those guys who always has a plan but never follows through. You're like the guy who sells chuck e cheese tokens on the corner and tells people they are bitcoins.

@buzz25

6 жыл бұрын

LOL

@jakubstanicek6726

6 жыл бұрын

Don´t do it bro, the original mealworm paper was later proved to be a mistake. The worms can chew it down but they cant digest it, nor they gut microbes do. I know your comment is already year old and it´s probably late, your company already producing kilotons of worms :) but maybe you can still be saved

was the styrofoam being digested into something that is not styrofoam, or were the worms just making smaller pieces of it and it just stayed as styrofoam? they kept eating it over and over again and you said the color had changed but did you try to take the tiny pieces and see if they were actually something else?

There used to be a chemical called MEK that destroyed Styrofoam with no residue. I worked at a shop that used it as a cleaner. One day I put some a foam cup and it ate the cup in seconds. My manager saw what happened and ordered 5 gallons of MEK. We had a ton of foam waste that we needed to get rid of. The garbage company was charging big money for taking it. So we put the MEK in a steel bucket and within a couple hours the foam was gone. The odd thing was the MEK was still useable after it ate all the styrofoam.

Do the mealworm beetles eat the styrofoam too?

@powersfam5

6 жыл бұрын

JuanTutors if I recall- recently I saw them breaking it down at the Seattle Exploratory. I think it wasn’t quite as quickly as the worms, but I’m almost certain they also did.

you should have weighed the worms before and after. or their waste. to show they are not simply passing it through over and over but metabolizing it and growing

@StraberrYKiler6789

6 жыл бұрын

seeing if they starve or live a full life from this would verify this

@GarranGossage

5 жыл бұрын

My first thought was that he should have weighed the waste along with the remaining block. That seem like a pretty big oversight in the experiment.

@jamestheotherone742

5 жыл бұрын

The worms probably all died but he doesn't want to admit that because then his brilliant idea to "save our dying planet" wouldn't be so great and get the clicks.

@StraberrYKiler6789

5 жыл бұрын

Well, test the theory then! or find somebody who already deals with these to try it. kzread.info/dash/bejne/e66drNWHfrDShag.html

@Jordan-zk2rf

5 жыл бұрын

@@jamestheotherone742 this is The Thought Emporium, he isnt one of those science channels that only show stuff that help their case.

I love it awesome Thank you for the info very interesting

Are those the twizzers you used for magnet planting ?

"Sir what do you want me to do with the traitor?" "Toss'em to the worms."

What are these worms breaking the styrofoam into?

@XXX3RX0

5 жыл бұрын

This is what I found: "Within 24 hours, they excreted the bulk of the remaining plastic as biodegraded fragments that look similar to tiny rabbit droppings. Mealworms fed a steady diet of Styrofoam were as healthy as those eating a normal diet, Wu said, and their waste appeared to be safe to use as soil for crops." I suspect that this is possible because of the phenyl group in the polymer, which is a common organic compound.

@bradleyweiss1089

4 жыл бұрын

love leeds I was gonna say styropoop. Or styrofeces. Or styroscat!

@Damian-Church-NZ

3 жыл бұрын

Poo

Great idea! the window of opportunity for using them is dictated by how long does it take before they start to morph into their next state... wonder how long that is...

That is good to know. Ty

“A synchronized break every few hours for a few hours” I think this may be a phenomenon known as “sleeping”

You sir are very talented

That is brilliant. I will follow up.